Visual aid teaching device



Jan. 23, 1968 T. c. DONALDSON ETAL 3,364,504

VISUAL AID TEACHING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sneet 1 Filed June 20, 1966INVENTORS Rmmie CD0 naldson John W Mffhf/ Marcus L.Baie$ and 1968 T. c.DONALDSON ETAL 3,

VISUAL AID TEACHING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 20, 1966INVENTORS.

'Rmmz'e CDanalds John l/Vorihy Marcus L134; 225

United States Patent Office fififi ifid i Patented Jan. 23, 19683,364,604 VISUAL AID TEACHING DEVICE Tommie C. Donaldson and John W.Worthy, both of Odessa, Tex; said Worthy assignor to Quinton M. Locke,Odessa, Tex.

Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 496,421, Oct. 15, 1965. Thisapplication June 20, 1966, Ser. No. 558,895

4 Claims. (Cl. 40-31) ABSTRACT GF THE DHSCLOSURE A portable visual aidteaching device in the form of a cabinet having a centrally locatedilluminating compartment, a drive compartment, and upper and lower rollcompartments. An elongated sheet of web material is wound about eachroll and each roll is received within the upper and lower compartments.Drive means located in the drive compartment are attached to each rollin a manner to enable the web to travel across the illuminatingcompartment in either direction of travel in accordance withenergization of the power drive means. The illuminating means arecontained behind the web so as to enable indicia contained upon the webto be easily viewed from a considerable distance. Each drive meansincludes a solenoid actuated clutch means and circuit means associatedthe ewith to selectively advance or rewind the web onto the rolls.

This invention is a continuation part of patent application Ser. No.496,421, filed Oct. 15, 1965, and now abandoned, entitled, Roll MaterialViewing Apparatus.

The present invention relates to a visual aid teaching device whichcomprises a viewing apparatus that facili tates the scanning of aportion of an elongated sheet material so as to enable the viewerthereof to observe the data thereon in an orderly and controlledsequence, wherein knowledge may be placed or stored upon a roll andthereafter viewed in a novel manner.

The present novel viewing device encompasses a unitary device of agenerally retangular configuration having an enlarged lighted portionupon a major surface thereof so as to enable an observer to scan agenerous amount of material at a glance, and furthermore, has providedtherein dual rolls located at the top and bottom extremity thereof uponwhich the material may be conveniently stored within the structure ofthe apparatus. A novel drive means is associated with each roll so as toenable the operator thereof to place any desired portion of the storeddata where it may be viewed by a large audience. The apparatus isfurthermore provided with a remote control means by which the device maybe actuated at a distance therefrom so as to enable the operator toselectively place any desired portion of the stored knowledge upon theviewing portion of the apparatus.

The principal object of the present invention is to pro vide a novelviewing apparatus that is attractive in appearance, easilytransportable, of rigid construction, and simple to fabricate.

Another object of this invention is to provide a remotely controlledviewing apparatus that will enable the operator thereof to controllablyposition any portion of the stored knowledge that is contained thereinbefore a large audience so as to enable viewing thereof by amultiplicity of persons.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a scanning devicecapable of being selectively manipulated by remote control power meansfor effecting travel of data contained upon a sheet material across atransparent inspection station having illuminating means associatedtherewith, whereby the sheet material may be caused to move apredetermined amount across the inspection station in accordance withthe desires of the operator.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a novel viewingapparatus having an elongated sheet of material placed upon dual rollsthat are spaced apart by a scanning station and wherein a novel drivetrain is associated with each roll and provided with circuitry thatlends itself to be remotely controlled so as to positively cause thesheet material to advance or reverse in its travel across the viewingstation.

Although the features of this invention which are believed to be novelare set forth in the appended claims, the details of the preferredembodiment and further objects and advantages may be comprehendedthrough reference to the following description taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the novel viewing apparatus;

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGURE 1 with thedoors thereof open to illustrate the interior thereof, and with portionsbroken away to better illustrate the device;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 33 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged detail of a portion of the apparatus illustratedin FIGURE 2, with some parts shown in section;

FIGURE 6 is a schematical representation of the circuitry employed inthe instant novel device;

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of parts of the device illustrated inFIGURES 2 and 5 with some parts broken away and some parts shown insection for clarity; and,

FIGURE 8 is a plan view of a modification of the drive mechanism such asseen in FIGURE 5.

The arrangement for carrying out this invention which is portrayed inthe various figures is generally illustrated in FIGURE 1 wherein thereis seen the viewing apparatus, generally indicated by the numeral 10,conveniently mounted upon a tripod 14- and adapted to be placed at thefront of a class room or the like. As seen in FIG- URE 1, the apparatusis provided with a carrying handle 18 conveniently located at one sidethereof, an upper hinged panel 22, lower hinged panel 20, and sidehinged panel 24. Leading from the side and below the handle 18 is aremote control multi-conductor 16 that may extend a suitable distance toa handheld switch arrangement so as to enable the operator thereof tostand adjacent one of the viewers and accordingly discuss theparticularities of the material that is selectively and controllablypassed across the viewing station 12 by the before mentioned remotecontrol switch means attached to conductor 16.

Looking now to FIGURE 2, in conjunction with the remaining figureswherein the viewing apparatus is shown with the beforementioned hingedpanels in open position so as to illustrate the interior thereof, thereis seen located within the rigid rectangular box-like viewing apparatus10, a lower roller 42 suitably journaled at each extremity thereof, andupper roller 44- that is likewise suitably journaled at each extremitythereof. The panels 20, 22, 24 are provided with hinges, as illustrated,at-

tached to the main body portion of the viewing apparatus. Flangedportions 36, 38, 40 are rigidly attached to the main body portion so asto form a unitized rectangular body having compartments 26, 32, 28, and39 therein. Lower and upper compartments 26 and 28 respectively providea compartment within which the lower and upper rolls 42, 44 respectivelyare conveniently and rotatably housed. The central compartment 32 isprovided with suitable illuminating means, such as the fluorescent lightbulbs illustrated by the numerals 34, although other suitableilluminating means may be employed if desired. Compartment 30 housesmotor drive assemblies or mechanisms 53 and 54 in addition to thetransformer (not shown) for the beforementioned fluorescent light bulbs.The transparent or translucent flat sheet of material, preferably aplastic such as Plexiglas, forms the viewing station 12, and isadvantageously mounted on the flanged portions of the bulkheads formingenclosure 32 as is amply illustrated in FIGURES 2 and 4.

The web or sheet material 45, 46 is preferably loaded or wound ontolower roll 42 and then placed in lower chamber 26 whereupon the sheetmaterial is then brought outwardly and up over illuminated station 12and L- shaped guide members 13 located at each extremity of station 12.The end of the sheet material is attached to upper roll 44 by a clipfastened to the center of the free end of the sheet material which issecured to an aperture centrally located in roll 44 so as to permit thesheet to inherently center itself upon the roll 44 in a manner that willenable the roll 44 to rotate While winding the sheet material 45, 46upon roll 44 in an aligned manner until a desired amount of the sheetmaterial has passed from roll 42, across the viewing station, and ontothe roll 44.

Looking now to the details of FIGURE wherein the journaled ends of theroll 44 and the drive mechanism 54 are more fully shown. Since assemblyor mechanisms 53 and 54 are identical, for all practical purposes, onlythe upper drive mechanism 54 will be discussed in detail. As seen inFIGURE 5 taken in conjunction with FIGURE 7, the roll 44 is comprised ofan elongated tubular stock of material, preferably of reinforcedcardboard or the like, having flanges 74, 75 at each extremity thereof.Flanges 74, 75 are preferably built up of reinforced Fiberglas andplastic resin composition and molded together with the alignment meansplaced therein so as to form an integral rigid roll structure. Theflange 74 is preferably built up of glass fibers and resin that is castintegrally with the illustrated thimble from which tapered protuberance72 and drive pin 70 extend. Tapered protuberance 72 is received within asimilarly oppositely tapered aperture 69 and drive pin 70 is receivedwithin one of the apertures 67 of the clutch mechanism 66. A flange 68is machined onto clutch portion 66 leaving a second portion 64. The faceof portion 64 is suitably machined so as to form a ratchet that isengageable with the similarly machined clutch portion 62. Clutch portion62 is movably splined onto shaft 60 and is provided with acircumferential groove 63 about the outer periphery thereof, asillustrated in FIGURE 5, which provides a means by which yoke 78 may beengaged therewith to thereby effect longitudinal movement between clutchportion 62 and shaft 69 when the armature 79 of solenoid 76 is actuated.Armature 79 is normally spring biased into the extended or engagingposition, and when the solenoid 76 is energized, the armature 79 isretracted into the solenoid '76 whereupon yoke 78 moves clutch portion62 out of engagement with the ratchet of clutch face 64 therebydisengaging motor 56 from the roll 44.

Flange 75 is likewise built up of epoxy resin and glass fibers andprovided with a central metallic aperture that receives retractablecentering screw portion 49 therein. The centering portion 49 of thescrew assembly indicated generally by the numeral 50, includes athreaded bolt, indicated by numeral 53, that is threadedly receivedwithin the mount means 48 and is further provided with a knurled fingeradjustment means at 52 and a lock-nut. Screws 47 maintain mount means 48rigidly attached to the side of the viewing apparatus as indicatedgenerally at 56 in FIGURE 2. Hence, it may now be seen by those skilledin the art, that the tapered screw portion 49 in conjunction with thecentrally located and similarly tapered centrally located aperture offlange 75, and the tapered means 72 that is received by similarlytapered aperture 69, maintain the rotatable roll 44 journaled in properalignment with the remaining structure.

Looking now to the details of the circuit illustrated in FIGURE 6, thereis seen therein two series and one parallel circuit that are connectedto a suitable source of power indicated by the letter S. Following thefirst circuit from 91) there is seen a normally open switch 91 seriesconnected to solenoid 76 which in turn is series connected to the motorof drive mechanism 5-4, which is suitably connected so as to completethe circuit to the source S at 92. The second series circuit, beginningat 90, is provided with a normally open switch F2 series connected tosolenoid 76 which in turn is connected to the motor of drive mechanism53, which is connected to the source at 92'. The two switches 91, 92 areboth mounted within a suitable hand held box-like container and providedwith suitable electrical conduits as at 16 in FIGURE 1 so as to enablethe operator of the viewing apparatus to stand at a substantial distancefrom the viewing apparatus as determined by the length of the conductorat 16.

Hence, it may now be seen that the first and second above describedseries circuits are identical to each other. The clutch mechanism ofFIGURE 5 is indicated generally by numeral 77 and 77' in the schematicalrepresentation thereof in FIGURE 6. Included in the circuit andconnected to source S are illuminating circuits 94, which represent thepower transformers, starters, and the like necessary for the properoperation of the two fluorcscent bulbs 34 of FIGURE 2, the details ofwhich are well known in the art. The illuminating circuit includes aswitch 93 series connected with the two parallel connected transformersof circuits 94 and 95.

Looking back to the details of FIGURE 2 in conjunction with FIGURE 6, itshould be understood that the motor of the drive assembly or mechanism54 is series connected with the solenoid of the drive mechanism 53 sothat when the motor of drive mechanism 54 is actuated, the adjacentsolenoid thereof remains in the unenergized and engaged position whilethe series connected solenoid of the second drive assembly 53 isenergized thereby leaving the clutch of drive assembly 54 in thenormally engaged position, while disengaging the clutch of the driveassembly 53, to thereby permit the sheet of viewing material to berolled onto roll 44 while the roll 42 is being unrolled, and since driveassembly 53 has the solenoid thereof energized and thus in thedisengaged position, the journaled mount means at each extremity of roll42 will provide suflicient friction to maintain the sheet material tautbetween the two rolls. When it is desired to reverse the direction oftravel of the sheet material 45, 46, the opposite or remaining button inthe before mentioned hand held conventional switch assembly is pressed,whereupon the motor of drive assembly 53 and the solenoid of the driveassembly 54 is then energized whereby the roll 42 will then rotate andaccordingly cause the material to be wound upon its outer periphery; andthe roll 44, since its solenoid is actuated and thus its attendantclutch is disengaged, will offer sufiicient resistance to maintain thesheet of material sufliciently taut, as in the same before describedmanner of operation of drive assembly 53.

FIGURE 8 shows a modification of the two drive assemblies 53, 54 ofFIGURE 2. As seen in FIGURE 8, the drive assembly has amotor 192energized by conductors 104 and is attached to upstanding portion offrame 116. Screw 114 maintains the frame 116 rigidly attached to thebottom of compartment 36 so as to maintain the geared shaft 108 alignedwith drive member 112 which in turn is aligned with the roll 44 or 42.Numeral 166 indicates a reduction gear box that operatively connectsgeared shaft 16-8 to motor I102. A fluid drive mechanism mayalternatively be used in conjunction with or in lieu of the gear box106. The drive means 112 is provided with a central tapered aperturethat receives the tapered protuberance 72 or" the roll, and is furtherprovided with apertures such as seen at 67 that receives the drive pin70 of the roll as previously described above in conjunction with FIGURE7.

In operation, the cabinet is provided with an empty roll 44 and a roll42 upon which has been wound the elongated sheet or web of material tobe viewed. The sheet of material is of a length dictated by the amountof data contained thereon and is threaded over the transparent plate ofviewing station 12 as indicated at numeral 45' and under the roll 4 asindicated by numeral 46 of FIGURE 4. The material is advanced in anupward direction by depressing switch 91 which energizes the motor ofthe drive assembly 54 while at the same time disengaging the clutch ofdrive assembly 53. Immediately upon release of switch 91, the movementof the material across the viewing station will stop to thereby enablethat portion of material visible on the illuminated viewing portionstation 12 to be studied. When it is desired to continue with additionaland perhaps unviewed material, the switch button 91 is again depressedthereby moving new subject matter from roll 42, across the viewingstation, and subsequently onto roll 44; whereupon the button may againbe released if it is desired to maintain the subject matter presented bythe screen 12 in view for a period of time. By depressing the oppositeor remaining second switch 92, the lower motor of the drive assembly 53will be energized along with the solenoid of drive assembly 54 andaccordingly, the material will move across the viewing station 12 in areverse manner. Hence, it should be readily apparcut that the materialmay be advanced, reversed, or stopped as desired by the operator bysimply depressing one of the two remote control switches.

While a particular embodiment of this invention has been shown anddescribed herein, it will occur to those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications can be accomplished without departing eitherin spirit or scope from the invention as set forth in the appendedclaims, therefore, what we claim as new and desire to secure by LettersPatent of the United States is:

1. A visual aid teaching device comprising a cabinet having upper,lower, and side walls and a rear wall;

a flanged bulkhead extending vertically from said lower to said upperwall and defining a motor drive compartment;

spaced apart flanged bulkheads extending from said vertical flangedbulkhead to one of said side walls in a direction away from said drivecompartment and defining a lower and upper roll compartment with anilluminating compartment therebetween;

said lower, upper, and motor drive compartments being provided withclosure members in the form of panels;

said panels each including a hinge along one edge thereof attaching saidpanels to one edge of said lower, upper, and side wall respectively;

horizontally aligned journaled means in said lower and upper rollcompartments adapted to rotatably receive a roll therebetween and withineach said roll compartment;

lower and upper power drive means mounted in said motor drivecompartments and operatively aligned with said lower and upper rollersrespectively;

said lower and upper drive means including lower and upper clutch meansinterconnecting said lower and upper rolls to a lower and upper motor;

a solenoid means operatively associated with each clutch of each motorand roll to engage and disengage each said motor from its respectiveroll;

said solenoid normally maintaining said clutch in the disengagedposition;

two normally open switches located a remote distance from said cabinet;

circuit means series connecting one of said switches,

said upper motor, and said lower solenoid to a common source;

second circuit means connecting a second of said switches in series withsaid lower motor and said upper solenoid and to said common supply;

an elongated sheet of web material wound about each said roll andextending therebetween and across said illuminating compartment,whereby;

actuation of said lower power drive means causes said web to travelacross said illuminating compartment in one direction and actuation ofsaid upper power drive means causes said web to travel across saidilluminating compartment in an opposite direction.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein said illuminating compartment isprovided with illuminating means;

a sheet of transparent material covering said illuminating compartmentand having the edge portions thereof superimposed on and supported bysaid flange of said bulkheads;

said sheet of web material adapted to travel across said transparentmaterial in slidable relationship thereto, whereby;

said illuminating means provides said web with a rearward light sourceto thereby enhance the visual observance of the web.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein an L-shaped guide member is provided atthe upper and lower edge portion of the sheet of transparent material,said L-shaped guide member being adapted to extend horizontally andcoextensively with said flanged lower and upper bulkheads, whereby;

said web rides across said L-shaped guide members during its travelacross said illuminated compartment.

4. The device of claim 1, wherein each said roll is comprised of anelongated tubular member having a vertical flanged surface at eachextremity;

one langed surface of each roll having a centrally located taperedaperture adapted to mate with a similar tapered threaded protuberanceadjustably mounted so as to provide one of the beforementioned journaledmeans in the side opposite said drive compartment;

the remaining flanged surface of each roll having a centrally locateddepending tapered protuberance and a power drive pin located a spaceddistance therefrom;

said tapered aperture and said protuberance being cast integrally witheach respective said flanged surface to thereby provide an integralflanged roller assembly of the type described;

said power drive means including a motor driven clutch means having anelement rotatably mounted adjacent said remaining flanged surface andadapted to impart rotatable motion to said pin and to rotatably receivesaid tapered protuberance, whereby;

energization of one of said power drive means causes the adjacent rollto rotate and move the web onto the roll associated therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 396,019 1/1889 Angel 40861,265,071 5/1918 Flint 40--86 1,971,263 8/ 1934 Hullinger 4086 2,483,57010/1949 Bergey 4031 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 25,598 12/ 1936 Australia.

EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM GRIEB, Examiner.

